The Autoimmune Wellness Podcast Episode #8: Step 4: Rest – Our Stories

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Welcome to The Autoimmune Wellness Podcast Season 1! We’ve created this podcast as a free resource to accompany our upcoming book, The Autoimmune Wellness Handbook: A DIY Guide to Living Well with Chronic Illness.

Episode #8: Step 4: Rest – Our Stories is an episode focused on our early sleep struggles, breakthroughs that helped us sleep more and speed healing, and what our sleep routines are like now. We also talk about autoimmune disease symptoms and the intimate role they can play in disrupting much needed sleep and how we tackle prioritizing sleep in a culture that seriously undervalues it. This episode is for you if you’d like insider deets on troubleshooting steps that paid big dividends for us when we were first working to improve our sleep or if you are looking for tips on staying on track with your sleep routine once it’s in place.

If you aren’t sure how much energy you need to put into Step 4: Rest, check out the “Where Are You on the Sleep-Quality Spectrum” self-test in Chapter 4. This test will help you identify if this is a low, moderate, or high-priority area. If you score low-priority, high-five! You’ve already got this area dialed in!

How to listen:

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If you’d like to play the episode right now in your browser, use the player below!

Show Notes:

• 0:00 Intro
• 1:51 The importance of Rest
• 2:42 Mickey’s early sleep struggles
  • She worked as a barista for years and had to be up by 3:15 AM!
  
  
• 4:42 Angie’s early sleep struggles
  • Panic attacks and anxiety plagued her sleep
  
  
• 6:54 When autoimmune symptoms create sleep disturbances
  • Peripheral neuropathy
  • Blood pressure irregularity
  • Pain
  
  
• 8:44 Mickey’s first sleep troubleshooting steps and breakthroughs
  • Neurotransmitter testing
  • Lifestyle adjustments
  
  
• 11:26 Angie’s first sleep troubleshooting steps and breakthroughs
  • Blood sugar regulation (This blog post has great tips on blood sugar balance)
  
  
• 13:00 Angie’s sleep now and struggles
  • Blue light exposure
  • Amber glasses
  • Snuggling (and the positive effects of oxytocin on sleep!)
  • How long did the elimination phase last for Angie?
  
  
• 15:30 Sleep schedule with a family
• 17:30 Mickey’s sleep now and struggles
  • Stress-driven insomnia
  • Meditation
  
  
• 23:27 Dealing with the cultural message of “sleep can wait”
  • Mickey on social pressures
  • Angie on professional pressures
  
  
• 27:33 Tips for staying on track with sleep routines
  • Phone zone
  • End of work day boundaries
  • Beginning of work day boundaries
  
  
• 29:44 Your homework for Step 4, Rest!
  • Take a look at the “Sleep Troubleshooting Checklist” in Chapter 4 of The Autoimmune Wellness Handbook to help you evaluate if you are taking all the traditional steps for improving sleep and if there are any remaining areas to explore.
  
  
• 30:49 Outro

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The Autoimmune Wellness Podcast is a complimentary resource to our forthcoming book, The Autoimmune Wellness Handbook: A DIY Guide to Living Well with Chronic Illness. Support us in our mission to revolutionize how autoimmune disease is viewed and treated by pre-ordering your copy today!

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Check out the previous episode, Episode #7: Aglaee Jacob, RD on Nourishing Diets, and the next episode, Episode #9: Dan Pardi on Sleeping Optimally. For the full podcast archive,